Automatic timer for automobiles



H. V. JOHNSON. AUTOMATIC TIMER FOR AUTOMOBILES.

I A PPLICATION' FILED FEB- 27. 1920- 1,416,833. I Patented May 23 wuemtoi J5 K352720072 UNITED STATES P AT'ENT 0 F'F'IC E HENRY V. JOHNSON, OF ST, PAUL, MINNESOTA.

AUTOMATIC TIMER FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specification f Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1922.

T 0 all whom it"may concern Be it known that I, HENRY V. JoHNso'N. a citizen of the United States. residing at St. Paul. in the county, of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Timers for Automobiles; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention. such as will, enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in automobile timing mechanism, and it has more particular reference to a timer which is especially designed for use on Ford automobiles, although. it may be equally well employed on various other types of motor driven vehicles by making slight structural changes. r

The principal object of the invention is to provide a timer of the above mentioned character which is of such construction that it will automatically adjust the period of ignition ofan internal combustion engine in such a manner that thespark will occur. when the engine is started, immediately at the beginning of the working stroke of the piston, and.- as the speed of the engine increases or decreases. it will. due to the action of centrifugal force on it. advance or retard the spark according to the speed of the engine, thus causing the spark to occur at the desired and proper time with respect to the positions of the pistons. U

Another object of the invention is to provide a timing mechanism of the above mentioned type which will permit the usual manually controlled spark lever to he discarded, the present mechanism serving to automatically control the spark perfectly. resulting in the. saving of inch obviating unnecessary strain and wear on the parts of the engine due to improper mechanical adjustment of the spark. and also enabling the operator to have entire freedom of his hands for shifting gears, etc.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals are employedto designate like parts throughout the same: 7

Figure 1 is a top plan view ot a timer constructed in accordance "with 'my inventlon, the parts being shown in normal position.

Fig. 2 is a View like Fig. 1,i1lustrating the position of the parts when they have been acted on by centrifugal force. and the contact shoe has been moved to a position to advance the spark,

Figql 'isa section on the plane of the line '33 o'f'Fi .-1

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the plane of the line 4c-4t of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig, 1.

Figsj6 and 7 are detail pei.'s l)ective views of parts of the timing mechanism disassembled.

In carrying out my invention I employ a timer in which the parts are extremely compact, and are designed to be disposed within the usual timer casing. One of the parts "or the mechanism is a hub-like member which is carried by the timer shaft and is designed to rotate with it, and this member in turn carries a contact shoe which, as is usual. is adapted to engage the spaced stationary contact points in the timer casing to closethe primary circuit; Weighted arms acted on by centrifugal force react with the hub-like member through the medium of suitable gearing, whereby when the speed of the machine increases or decreases. the spark will be automatically advanced or retarded according to the movement of the aforesaid weighted arms. Outward swinging oi the arms is resisted by means of a spring. which alsoserves to return them to their normal poition.

Y The foregoing paragraph is merely a brief description of the device. and, in order to enable the reader to acquire a thorough understanding of the construction of the device and the cooperation of the various parts thereof. I will refer to these parts by numerals. By reference to the drawings it will be seen that the numeral 1 designates a timer casing of conventional form. of the type more especially adapted for use in connection with Ford automobiles. Disposed in the inner periphery of the casing are the usual. spaced stationary contacts 2. In addition to these contacts 2. the casing is also equipped with a pull rod 3 which is connected thereto in the manner shown, and

which, as is obvious, is designed to be manually actuated to angularly displace the (ontact points and the contact shoe to control the spark. As before stated, it is the real object of this invention to do away with this rod 3, and to control the spark automati cally by mechanism shown.

The above referred to automatically controlled mechanism includes, a series of detachable parts, one of which is the base l which is provided with a cylindrical boss or sleeve-like portion 5 which is adapted to be secured. on the timer-shaft 6 for rotation therewith. Any particular design of base may be employed, that is, the shape of the base is immaterial as long as it is of such a size to permit it to rotate freely in the casing 1. Carried by and disposed at spaced points on the base 4 are a pair of pins '7 which serve as pivots for the weighted arcuate arms 8, which are swung on these pivots by means of centrifugal force which acts on them. Each of the arms 8 is provided with a gear segment 9 adjacent its pivoted end, and these gear segments mesh with a pinion 10 carried by the hub-like member 11 which fits on the boss 5, and which in turn carries a spring-pressed con tact shoe 12 which is adapted to engage the stationary contacts 1 to close the primary circuit. During operation of the engine, the weighted arms 8 will be swung outwardly toward the inner periphery of the timer casing 1 because of the centrifugal force which acts on them. Such action of the arms will cause the contact shoe to move to a position to engage the contact points 2, to advance the spark. A coil spring 13 which has connection with the hub-like member 11 and one of the pins 7, serves to prevent ex cessive outward movement of the arms 8, when the engine is running at high speed, and it also serves to return the arms to their normal position when the speed of the car is diminished.

In Fig. 1, the arms 8 are shown in a nor mal position, being held in this position by the aforesaid spring 13. Now, after the motor has been started and the timer shaft 6 caused to rotate,my timing mechanism will also be rotated, and, as the speed of the engine increases the aforesaid arms will be acted on by centrifugal force and will move to a position similar to that shown in Fig. 2. Such movement of the arms, will move the contact shoe to an angular position with respect to the shaft 6 so that the spark will occur in. advance of its normal. time. Tn other words, as the speed of the engine increases the contact shoe will move to a posi tion to advance the spark, and as the speed of the engine decreases it will move to a position to retard the spark. Such action of the contact shoe is caused through the medium of the gear segments 9 which engage the pinion l0 and rotate the hub-lil e member it on the boss 5, consequently carrying the contact shoe with it.

I have shown two of the pins 7 and each. one is provided with an aperture 14 adja cent its free end with which one end of the coil. spring 13 is detachably connected, the opposite end of the spring being connected to a screw or rivet 15. I employ two of these pins 7 in order to permit interchanging of the spring 13, as the spring will be more advantageous in the position shown, in some instances. However, it will be necessary to reverse it in some instances and for this reason I provide two of the pins 7.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that a thorough understanding of the operation and advantages of my device will be had, therefore, further description is deemed unnecessary.

I desire to emphasize the fact that by using a timer constructed in accordance with my invention, the use of the usual manually controlled spark lever will be obviated, and because of the automatic operation of the device, a great saving in fuel will be accomplished, due to the fact that the charge will always be fired at the proper time regardless of the speed, thereby attaining the highest possible economy. Another feature, of the device is that it eliminates unnecessary strain and wear on the parts of the engine due to the improper manual adjustment of the spark, and, as already stated, it enables the operator to have a more free use of his hands. This feature will be advantageous in that it will save the operator the worry of properly adjusting the spark, as it is very troublesome in a great many cases.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown and described is to be taken as a preferred form of the same. and that various changes in the shape. size, and arrangement of parts may be re sorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

I claim:

In a timer for internal combustion engines, the combination with a timer casing provided with a plurality of stationary contacts. and a timer shaft in the casing; of a fiat base secured on the timer shaft, laterally extending pivot pins carried by the base, a pair of weighted arms pivoted on said pins, being moved on these pivots by centrifugal force, each arm being provided with a gear segment, a hub carried by said base, a pinion on the hub interposed. between and co acting with said. gear segments, said hub be ing provided with pairs of oppositely disposed spaced arms extending laterally from it, pins extending between and connecting the free ends of these arms, a circuit closing member including spaced plates arpins and one of the connecting pins on the ranged on opposite sides of one pair of said arms ofsaid hub to resist movement of the 10 arms and having pivotal connection With Weighted arms and to return the latter to the adjacent connecting pin, a contact roller normal position.

arranged between the plates at one end, an In testimony whereof I have hereunto set other pin arranged between and connecting my hand.

the opposite ends of said plates, and a coiled spring connected to one of the pivot HENRY V. JOHNSON. 

